The Woman She Was
by BlueSuedeShoes
Summary: Oliver takes a trip to Chloe's past following the events of "Homecoming"


Oliver closed his eyes and took a deep breath before taking that step forward into the room. Part of him was dreading how painful this was going to be, but another part-the part of him that had brought him here-hadn't been able to stay away.

When he opened his eyes again he was surprised at the wave of hurt that washed over him as he took in the room for the very first time. Everything in here spoke of her.

He released the breath and felt a sharp ache in his lungs.

"Can I help you?" came a young female voice behind him. Oliver started.

_Pathetic,_ he grumbled to himself. _The Green Arrow, caught off guard by a teenager. _He shook himself, turning around to see not one, but two teenagers who appeared practically joined at the hip, staring at him in confusion. When he faced them, recognition flashed across their faces followed by awe.

"Oh...my..."

"God," the boy finished for the girl. "You're Oliver Queen."

"The Green Arrow," the girl finished for the boy.

They looked at each other and back to him. "Can we get an interview?" they asked him simultaneously.

Oliver took an automatic step back. "I...um..."

"We're so sorry," the girl exclaimed suddenly, realizing they'd made him uncomfortable. "Sometimes it's hard to turn off the tape recorder, you know. You look like you're looking for someone. Can we help you?"

Oliver sighed. "I...guess I didn't think anyone was going to be in the school. I'll come back another time." He'd been thinking about coming there ever since Clark and Lois went to the reunion. He wanted to see where Chloe had become Chloe. How she had become the kind of woman she was. It was just painful because she wasn't there giving him the grand tour.

"You don't have to go!" the boy said immediately. "Everyone else in the school is gone. We just always hang after on Friday to make sure Monday's edition comes out all right."

"You guys..."

"Run _the_ _Torch_?" the girl offered. "Uh huh. But what are _you_ doing here? Oh my god!" a light-bulb expression lit up her face and she looked at her friend excitedly. "Clayton! You know who he's looking for?"

"Oh my god, you're right!"

Oliver stared at them awkwardly. He was being forcibly reminded of the Wonder Twins.

"You're looking for Chloe Sullivan!" Clayton determined, and Oliver nearly staggered at the sound of her name. He hadn't realized until that moment that everyone he knew had been avoiding voicing her name in his presence.

"You knew her, didn't you?" the girl asked.

"I told you she knew too much, Zoe!" Clayton said triumphantly, though Oliver doubted it were likely that Zoe had ever disagreed with anything Clayton said, or vise versa. "I mean, come on, if the Green Arrow's looking for her, you know it's important!"

"What do you guys mean she knew too much?" Oliver interjected.

"Well she's totally disappeared from the net, haven't you noticed?" Zoe asked. "All of a sudden a couple of weeks ago, she just vanished off the map completely."

"We were big fans," Clayton explained. "She pretty much made _the_ _Torch_ what it is. She was a genius. And we have this theory about her and the Blur, that he-"

"Wait, wait, back up. _Fans?"_ Oliver asked.

"Of her work," Zoe provided. "At _the_ _Torch _and _The Daily Planet._ We've got copies on file of everything she ever wrote."

Oliver had been about to ask another question when that statement managed to sink in. "You do?" he said hoarsely.

"Oh yeah! Would that help?" Clayton asked, nodding to Zoe, who immediately rushed over to a filing cabinet and pulled out a huge stack of files.

Holding them in her arms, she bumped the file drawer closed with her hip and then walked over to Oliver, dropping the weighty stack of papers and clippings in his hands.

"A lot of her work is missing from the internet now, we noticed, which is why we're glad we kept a hard copy of everything." Zoe looked at him expectantly. It took a moment for Oliver to suddenly realize that she was waiting for him to magically manufacture Chloe out of thin air.

"Do you guys mind if I take these with me?" he asked them.

"Not at all!"

"No way!"

Oliver hesitated, looking around at the room. Something caught his attention. A vast expanse of cork board, empty holes signaling that it had once been coated extensively with pegs.

She'd told him about it. He remembered the amused, reminiscent grin that had graced her features, successfully lighting up the whole room.

_I called it the Wall of Weird._

Oliver walked as one entranced, straight for the board, lifting his fingers to run them across it. Her fingers had touched this board. Here in front of him was vital proof that someone other than a name had existed. A young girl had existed here, had plastered this wall with every photograph and article that caught her fancy. She had acknowledged the strangeness in the world that most people had been totally blind to. How one small person had been so capable...so _aware_...it blew his mind.

"Yep," Zoe said from his right, once again successfully startling Oliver out of his wits. "That was the Wall of Weird. I guess you've done your research, huh?"

"It's gone," he said quietly. _Like her._

Zoe and Clayton once again exchanged grins. "Not exactly. The Wall of Weird has hit the Web," Clayton told him, reaching for his cell phone to show Oliver. Suddenly he paused, looked at Zoe, and the two had yet another Wonder Twins style moment before they were both excitedly hovering over the phone. Zoe surfing through it to find something.

"Do you think-"

"He could trace it? Duh!"

"We couldn't-"

"Yeah, but he's the Green Arrow."

"And he _does_ own a multi-billion dollar corporation."

"He must have access-"

"To the most advanced technology out there!"

Oliver watched the exchange dubiously. "What are you two talking about?"

"Chloe!" they said together.

Oliver stared.

"There!" Zoe said triumphantly, whipping the phone from Clayton's hand and holding it up for Oliver to see.

It was a text message.

He leaned closer, reading it.

_Glad to see you're carrying on my Torch._

"C.S." he read aloud, his heart actually ceasing all movement.


End file.
